Machine for crimping wire for spring wire stringers and for forming loop springs on the ends of the wires



y 1954 J. E. MEDENDORP 2,677,

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING WIRE FOR SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND FOR FORMING LOOPSPRINGS ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES Filed March 10, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. John Medendorp ATRJRNEKS.

y 4, 1954 J. E. MEDENDORP 2.677,398

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING WIRE FOR SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND FOR FORMING LOOPSPRINGS on THE ENDS OF THE WIRES Filed March 10, 1951 s Sheets-Sheet- 2INVENTOR. John E. Medenqorp ATTORN May 4, 1954 J, E. MEDENDORP 2,677,398

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING WIRE FOR SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND FOR FORMING LOOPSPRINGS ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES Filed March 10, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR. dohn E. Medendorp ATTORNEY May 4, 1954 J. E. MEDENDORP 2,677,

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING WIRE FOR SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND FOR FORMING LOOPSPRINGS ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES Filed March 10, 1951 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 4Fr g. 8. F69. 9.

- zzvmvrox. John E. Medendorp wwl w ATTORNEYS.

May 4, 1954 J. E. MlipENDoRP 2,677,

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING WIRE 0R SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND CJJDRMING LOOPSPRINGS ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES R F Filed March 195 5 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR. John E. Medendorp Patented May 4, 1954 MACHINE FOR CRIMPINGWIREFOR SPRING WIRE STRINGERS AND FOR FORMING LOOP SPRINGS ON THE ENDSOF THE WIRES John E. Medcndorp, Muskegon,.Mich., assignor toStubnitz-Greene Spring Corporation, Adrian, Mich, a corporation ofMichigan Application March 10, 1951, Serial No. 214,942

15 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a machine for crimping wire to make springwire stringers for seat springs; the stringers have their ends foldedback to form on one end a loop and on the other end a jack spring or asafety-pin type spring.

Maurice Stubnitz has invented several seat cushions which use springwire beams to support short coiled springs. These spring wire beams aresupported in elevated position by safety pin springs or loop springs.Such spring cushions are shown and claimed in Stubnitz Application92,391 filed May 10, 1949, and Application 133,724, filed December19,1949, now Patent No. 2,649,896, granted August 25, 1953; Applications165,734 filed June 2, 1950, now Patent No. 2,609,036, granted September2, 1952, and 170,108, filed June 24, 1950, show the loop springs at theends of the wire beams.

My invention is an automatic machine to form the stringers or wire beamswith depressions or crimps pressed into the wires, and to fold the wireback at the ends to form a loop at one end and a safety-pin spring atthe other end of the Wire beam.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross section on the line i--! of Fig. 4, but tilted up atthe left-note floor line.

Fig. 2 is a small end elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the spring stringer or Wire beam formed on themachine.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the machine showing the rackand pinion drive for the, winding mechanism.

Fig. '7 is a detail view showing the start of the wind.

Fig. 8 shows the jack spring in process of being wound.

Fig. 9 shows the jack spring completely wound up and the winder returnedto starting position.

Fig. 10 is a side view of the winding head and end. View of the jackspring showing the mandrel Refer to Fig. 4. l is the frame of themachine from which rise the stanchions 2 provided with the cam shaftbearings 3. The cam shaft is designatedfl. clamped and keyed to the camshaft (see Fig. l) is the crimping cam 5. The clamp is designated 5 andthe keys 1. This cam has a cam race 8. A roller 9 follows this race.This roller is journaled on the punch 10 which carries the holding plateH and the separating finger l2. The wire stringers or work W are fed tothe machine on the three work shelves 153. These shelvesv l3 lean orincline downwardly toward the machine (see Fig. 2). Each shelf issupported on an angle bracket I l which is bolted by T bolts and nuts I5 to the dovetail groove 56 of the front frame bar li. These shelves [3may be adjusted on the frame for taking. different length wires. Notethat the end shelves have each a cover flange 18 to fit over the wireends and hold these down while the machine does its work. The centershelf has a finger 60 bolted to the frame bar I! to cooperate with theshelf to hold the wires from being displaced.

When the cam 5 operating on roll 9 forces the punch I0 downward itforces the two wires W at the right of finger I2 in Fig. 11, against theunder die I9 (Fig. 4) and forms the crimps 2!! in the stringer shown inFig. 3. The punch It carries the finger 12 which separates the wire tobe folded and wound from the group supported upon the shelves l3. SeeFig. 11. Here the dies have closed. When the dies close, the finger I2pushes the slide 6! down against the resistance of spring 62'. Thisfinger holds the lowermost wire of the stack on one side and the holdingplate H holds it on the other side while it is being processed inwinding and folding operations now to be described. When the punch anddies open the wire stopping slide pushes up and the ledge 63 is inposition (Fig. 6) to stop the stack from sliding 01f the inclined shelfas the stack feeds forward after the fully processed wire drops out ofthe machine as later described.

The end of the wire is wound up to form the jack or safety-pin spring 2!by the winding disk 22 and winding pin 23 shown in Figs. 7 to 10inclusive. Pin 23 projects from the boss 24 on the winder. The disk,boss and pin revolve clockwise as shown in Fig 7 a turn andthree-quarters (approximately). Compare Figs. 7 and 8. Thereupon themembers return to the starting position-compare Fig. 9.

This movement is accomplished by the winding cam 25 (Fig. 5)whichoperates the lever 26 against the thrust of spring 21. This lever26 (Fig. 6) has its end pivoted in yoke 23 on slide 28a which journalspinion 29. This pinion meshes and walls over the stationary rack 30 andalso turns over the teeth of the sliding rack 3| thereby multiplying thethrow or movement of the lever end 25. The teeth of the sliding rack 3imesh with the teeth of drive pinion 32 which is on the same shaft 33 asthe larger driven gear 34 which ha teeth meshing with the teeth 35 cutin the winder sleeve 36 (see Fig. l). This sleeve has a winder head ordisk 22. This has a boss 24 which carries the winder pin 23. Themovement of the winder cam and winder lever is transmitted by the rackand gears into about a turn and five-eighths (compare Figs. '7, 8, and9). The pinion 29 and rack 3| move from the full line positions shown inFig. 6 to the dotted line positions in Fig. 6. Then spring 21 reversesthe lever movement and the rack, gears and pinions reverse theirmovement returning the winder head and pin to the position shown in Fig.9. The winder sleeve, head and pin advance to engage another wire to beprocessed.

The wire is wound around a mandrel 39 which, during the windingoperation will be advanced to the right as shown in dotted lines in Fig.5, and during the stripping operation, shown in full lines in Fig. 5, iswithdrawn to the left by stripper cam 40 operating on stripper bellcrank lever 4| to withdraw mandrel rod 42 by fork 43 between nuts 44 and45.

The winding pin 23 is grooved (Fig. 5). The winding sleeve 35 isinternally threaded to engage the threads of the arbor 46. Hence inwinding up the pin 23 pulls the work toward the head 22 and off theshelf [3. At the same time the stripper cam, lever and rod pull themandrel out of the disk or head 22, hence the work is now ready to dropout of the machine onto the inclined pan 12. The spring 4'! returns thelever 4| and also returns the mandrel 39 to its working dotted lineposition of Fig. 5.

The same winding takes place at the left hand end of the machine, onlyit is less than a full turn to make the loop 48 shown in Fig. 3. The camthrow and the multiplication of movement by gear rates will beconsiderably less. There will also be the same pull to by the windingpin and the same stripping of the mandrel out of the loop.

As long as the foot pedal 49 is kept depressed against the pull ofspring 10 (Fig. 2), the link 56 (Figs. 134.5) will pull down the clutchthrow out lever 55! and. the spring 52 will throw the driven clutchmember 53 to the left and the jaws 54 of the driven clutch member willengage the jaw teeth 55 of the driving clutch member 9i. But when thepedal 49 i released and the clutch throw out lever El returns by pull ofspring In to its upper position, shown in the full lines of Fig. 15, thechamfered end H (Fig. 14) is in position to engage the beveled cam 56 onthe driven member and this will shift the driven clutch member to theright and disengage the jaw clutch parts and the machine will tend tostop. A brake 5? insures stoppage without overthrow. This brake engagesthe outside of the driven clutch member which forms a brake drum.

The driving clutch member i the hub 92 of a large pulley wheel 58 whichis driven by belt 59 from the small motor pulley 68 (Fig. 2).

What I claim is:

'1. A machine for putting crimps in spring wire stringers and bendingone or more of the ends of a stringer into a loo like spring leg orlegs, having in combination, a frame, dies located on the frame forforming the underside of the crimps, punches sliding in said frame forforming the upper sides of th crimps, mean for sliding the punches upand down, shelves on which a group of wires to be worked upon aresupported and advanced to the punches and dies, a holding plate attachedto each punch for holding the most advanced wire in each group, a fingersupported on the slide for holding and separating the most advanced wirefrom the other wires in the group which are undergoing crimping whilethe most advanced wire is subjected to end bending operations while thiadvanced wire is held between the finger and the holding plate, and awork stopping slide supported at the die for sliding movement againstspring resistance and provided at its upper end with a ledge to catchand stop the next advanced wire when the completely processed wire dropsout of the machine, the said work stoppage slide being pressed down outof the way by the finger on the punch when the punch closes on the workand the under die, and the said work stoppage slide rising with thespring pressure as the finger and the punch Withdraw, thereby allowingthe wires to feed forward on the shelf and be caught and stopped by theledge on the work stoppage slide, and winding means for engaging the endof the stringer and performing the said end bending operation while theadvanced wire is separated from the group of wires and wires are crimpedbetween the punches and dies.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the winding meanscomprises a winding head and a mandrel with power connections areprovided, the winding head provided with a pin which catches the end ofthe most advanced wire and bends it around the mandrel while the crimpsare being put in the next wire.

3. The combination claimed in claim 2 and stripping mechanism forpulling the mandrel out of the bend in the wire to allow the processedwire to drop out of the machine.

4. The combination claimed in claim 2 in which the winding head has aninternally threaded and attached sleeve which is supported to turn on athreaded arbor and the pin has an annular groove so that the windinghead and pin, when they turn, pull the completely processed wire off theshelf.

5. The combination claimed in claim 2 and a threaded arbor support forthe winding head which has a threaded sleeve and which has a groovedpin, so that when the mandrel is withdrawn from the bend in the wire,the winding head moves back as well as turns to pull the wire off thesupporting shelf.

6. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which there are motiontransmitting devices for the winding head which include a stationaryrack, a sliding rack, a slide with a pinion which walks over the teethof the stationary rack and meshes with the teeth of the movable rack toadvance that rack, and a gear set operated by the sliding rack tomultiply the movement of the winding head with respect to the camactivated movement.

7. A machine for putting crimps in spring wire stringers and bending oneor more of the ends of a stringer wire into a loop form of spring leg orlegs, having in combination, inclined shelves for gravity feeding thestraight wires sidewise to working position, a punch and die mechanismfor crimping the said wires in such position at each reciprocation andhaving a separating finger for, when the punch closes upon the work,selecting a wire to be advanced to a position for another operation butsaid wire still held between the punch and die, a winding head near oneend of said shelves for grasping the end of the advanced wire andturning it to bend it into a folded end portion forming a spring legwhile being held by the punch and die, means for turning the head and atthe same time advancing the head longitudinally to meet the advancedstringer, and motion transmission for reciprocating the punch andselector and turning, advancing and returning the winding head when thetransmission is power operated.

8. The combination claimed in claim 7 in which the winding head has apin and a mandrel, the winding head turning and the pin wrapping the endof the wire around the mandrel.

9. The combination claimed in claim 8 in which the mandrel slidable outof the processed work and the winding head has internal threads andturns on threads of an arbor and the pin has an annular groove so thehead and pin can pull the processed wire to a position to drop out ofthe machine.

10. The combination claimed in claim 7 in which a cam shaft, a cam andconnection operate the punches, a slide with a pinion slidable in theframe by the cam shaft, a stationary rack, a sliding rack in the frame,the pinion operating between the teeth of the two racks and serving bywalking on the teeth of the stationary rack and turning into the teethof the other rack to multiply the movement of the sliding rack withrespect to the movement of the slide, driven pinion and gearmultiplication means driven by the sliding rack, the winding head and apin driven by said last mentioned gear and pinion set for engaging anend portion of the wire, and a mandrel around which the wire is wrappedby the head and pin to form a spring loop.

11. The combination claimed in claim 10 and a lever operated by the camshaft for moving the mandrel to withdraw it from the work when fullyprocessed to allow the work to drop out of the machine.

12. The combination claimed in claim 10 in which the head is internallythreaded and turns upon a threaded arbor to pull the work out of themachine as it wraps it about the mandrel and in which means is providedto pull the mandrel out of the work as the processing of the wire iscompleted.

13. The combination claimed in claim 12 in which the means to pull themandrel out of the bend in the wire is a fork and lever engaging objecton the mandrel, said lever operated by another cam on the cam shaft.

14. The combination claimed in claim 7 in which the rotation convertingmeans for the punches is a cam shaft and cams and the cam shaft andanother cam and rack and pinion operate the bending head.

15. The combination claimed in claim 14 with an automatic throw outclutch and a pedal for operating parts to allow the clutch to engagewhen the pedal is stepped upon and in which the parts automaticallydisengage when the foot is taken off or releases the pedal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 565,380 Edenborn Aug. 4, 1896 737,339 Campbell Aug. 25, 1903898,424 Bartlett Sept. 15, 1908 1,126,202 Harcke Jan. 26, 1915 1,282,530Bloemaker Oct. 22, 1918 1,316,243 Johnson Sept. 16, 1919 1,882,243Dailey Oct. 11, 1932 2,449,263 Welsford Sept. 14, 1948 2,491,893 DuerDec. 20, 1949 2,517,436 Jones Aug. 1, 1950

